Story perspectives

Macron Orders Plan to Shield France From Russian Hybrid Attacks

By Drooid · Sep 18, 2026, 11:17 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

President Emmanuel Macron ordered a plan to protect France’s infrastructure from Russian hybrid attacks.
The plan targets drone and cyber threats to critical sites.
Macron said the Russian hybrid threat intensified after an attempted drone attack at Leipzig airport in August.
He will convene a G7 summit in coming weeks to discuss energy cooperation and possible strategic oil reserve release.

History

Historical Context

On 23 December 2015 Russian-linked Sandworm hackers deployed BlackEnergy malware to seize substations, cutting power for roughly 230,000 Ukrainians for up to six hours—the first publicly confirmed grid cyberattack. The breach underscored the threat of state-sponsored cyberwarfare and, a decade later, shaped France’s 2024 hybrid-defence plan to shield critical infrastructure from similar Russian cyber and drone assaults.

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Story summary

President Emmanuel Macron ordered a plan to protect France’s infrastructure from Russian hybrid attacks.
The plan targets drone and cyber threats to critical sites.
Macron said the Russian hybrid threat intensified after an attempted drone attack at Leipzig airport in August.
He will convene a G7 summit in coming weeks to discuss energy cooperation and possible strategic oil reserve release.

1 / 2